1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a hand-controlled, motor-driven oscillating device as described in the as used in particular as a hand-held grinding device, to the output shaft of which the required tool, such as an abrasive disk, a cutting wheel, saw blades, scraping blades and the like, can be attached as required.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Various designs of such oscillating devices are known (cf., for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,350,098, 4,920,702 and DE German reference 94 10 754.8 U1). However, such a device always comprises an elongate casing in which an electric motor and an oscillating unit are arranged in axial succession. An output shaft projects out of the casing of the oscillating unit, to which tools can be attached. A corresponding tool is in this case attached rigidly to the output shaft and, if the output shaft is arranged perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the device, is always aligned substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of oscillation, in particular if an abrasive disk or a cutting wheel is being used. The tool cannot adopt any other position with respect to the device, so that the tool attached to the oscillating device is difficult to use in restricted working areas, and indeed this is often impossible, in particular because the grip section of the casing, which is parallel to the working surface, is in the way.
Grinding devices in which the abrasive tool is pivotably connected, via an articulated joint, to a handle or to a linkage leading to an oscillating device, are also known from U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,516,361 and 4,829,719. This makes working inefficient, on the one hand, and uncomfortable and inexact, on the other hand.